I’ve written about the fiscal implosion in Europe and warned that America faces the same fate if we don’t reform poorly designed entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. But this new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, narrated by an Italian…
Daily Analysis
The French Government’s Moral Depravity and Self-Imposed Fiscal Suicide
Appearances can be deceiving. I saw an article with a blaring headline that warmed my heart: “France’s Sarkozy Eyes Welfare Rethink, Fraud Clampdown.” Could it be, I thought, that the political elite finally realized that the welfare state was the wrong model? Had…
More Chicago-Style Corrupt Crony Capitalism
I’ve already commented on some of the sleazy behavior that infects Chicago politics. Now we have a jaw-dropping example of what’s wrong with the state of Illinois, as explained by Bill McGurn of the Wall Street Journal. Soon the Illinois state legislature will meet in…
Alan Blinder’s Accidental Case for the Flat Tax
Alan Blinder has a distinguished resume. He’s a professor at Princeton and he served as Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve. So I was interested to see he authored an attack on the flat tax – and I was happy after I read his column. Why? Well, because his arguments…
How Government Can Turn Heaven into Hell
One of the sacrifices I make for liberty is traveling to foreign lands. Previous hardship duty includes trips to Monaco, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Switzerland, and Anguilla. I’m currently in Antigua, which is a remarkably beautiful island. But nice places nonetheless…
A Painful Example of Obamacare’s Tax Complexity
As this image illustrates, the internal revenue code is a nightmare of complexity. And this chart shows how Obamacare is turning the health care system into a Byzantine nightmare. So what happens when you mix bad tax policy and bad health care policy? Well, you get…
The Tobin Tax on Financial Transactions Would Be Bad for Investment, Bad for Competitiveness
I’m periodically asked about proposals to impose “small” taxes on transactions. There are a couple of versions of this idea. In some cases, such proposals are designed to tax every economic transaction and supposedly generate enough money to replace all other taxes….
Explaining How to Solve America’s Fiscal Crisis
I didn’t have the fun of dealing with the OccupyWashington protestors at the Americans for Prosperity conference, but I did speak to the audience about America’s looming fiscal nightmare. The video quality isn’t perfect, though it came out better than the recording of…
Per Dollar Spent, OECD Subsidies May Be the Most Destructively Wasteful Part of the Federal Budget
I’m not a fan of international bureaucracies. I’ve criticized the United Nations for wanting global taxes. I’ve condemned the International Monetary Fund for promoting bigger government. I’ve even excoriated the largely unknown Basel Committee on Banking Supervision…
Will the Stupid Party Agree to Higher Taxes and More Wasteful Spending?
I’m baffled by stupid Republicans (sorry to be redundant). Some GOPers have agreed to put taxes on the table. Not surprisingly, Democrats are praising them for this preemptive surrender, patting these Republicans on the head for being good little lapdogs. (The…





